Automobile accidents are an all too common and unfortunate fact of life. In 2005, there were over 6,400,000 automobile accidents in the United States resulting in a financial cost of more than 230 billion dollars. In addition, 2.9 million people were injured and over 42,000 fatalities occurred in the same year. Currently, over 100 people die every day in the United States due to vehicle crashes, equating to one death every 13 minutes.
Being involved in an automobile accident can be traumatic, with reactions ranging from poor concentration, nervousness, anxiety, irritability, to agitation, or even being in a state of shock. As a result, the scene of an accident can be confusing to all involved, including eyewitnesses. Recalling what was seen and said, by whom and in what context, can prove problematic under the best of circumstances. Witnesses' memories fade as time passes, and the details of the accident become vague. In some cases, a witness may even begin to rationalize what they believe they may or may not have witnessed. In addition, investigation of automobile accidents is often hampered by lack of evidence, especially in the case of a hit-and-run accident involving two automobiles. Even if eyewitnesses happen to be present, their recollections may be unreliable. In other cases, there are no eyewitnesses at all, just damage to one or more vehicles, and in some cases, other property as well. All too often, there is no reliable way to identify the automobile that was the cause of the hit-and-run accident.
One issue relating to automobile accidents is the repair of damaged vehicles. Insurance claims adjusters are typically tasked with assessing the damage to a vehicle, determining a reasonable cost to repair, providing a financial settlement for the repairs, and then certifying that the repairs were performed properly using legitimate parts. However, unscrupulous body shops have been known to use counterfeit parts to increase theft profits. In some cases, the substitution of these counterfeit parts is not immediately apparent, but their use soon leads to dissatisfaction with the repairs. While such cases may be the exception, the traffic in counterfeit body parts is not inconsequential. In 1997, the Federal Trade Commission estimated that counterfeiting cost the global auto Industry $12 billion, $3 billion of which is in the United States. It is the consensus of aftermarket parts manufacturers that those estimates are for too conservative today. Worse yet are cases where the perpetrator of a hit-and-run accident, or an auto body repair shop, attempts to hide evidence of damage to the perpetrator's vehicle, which is a criminal act. Another related issue is the sale of repaired vehicles that have been damaged in an accident. In general, repairs of a damaged vehicle are reported and subsequently disclosed to a potential buyer by the seller. Currently, services such as CARFAX® provide a history of accident repairs and related information to prospective buyers of an automobile. However, such services are only as good as the information they are provided. Furthermore, not all accident repairs are properly reported or recorded. Even when they are, there is no way for the buyer to verify the provenance of the body parts used to repair the automobile.